Tag: health

Sheltering- May Long Weekend

~ Linda ~ 1 Comment

Tradition? May Long Weekend (aka Victoria Day long weekend) was always our first camping trip of the season. In the day, we spent some miserable days in cold, wind, and even rain. But it was, in the new vernacular, May Long. Once we retired, we could choose our time and the first camping could occur sooner or later than Victoria Day.

This year tradition is out the window but a Sunday drive and a walk are something we can do. Our health experts advocate fresh air, exercise, and getting out of the house, if you can safely do it. So where did we go? Out to Dunn Lake. It’s Gary’s heart strings this rough, rugged, and out-of-the way destination tug at. Just about every hill, is one where he sighted a deer, shot one, or missed the big one.

It’s 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit) and the sun is out. Of course the dogs are with us and they are beyond themselves with excitement. It’s actually hot walking through the arid hills where the aspens have leafed out. The crocuses are done, there are buffalo beans dotting the hills yellow, and small purple flowers like violets hide in the dry grass.

The “lake” is across the trail from our first walk and before we get there four dirt bikes whiz past. Some young people enjoying the outdoors, too. Taz, our Jack Russell, runs to the water and wades in. Scruff is not a water dog so he stays on the bank. Then the Jack goes for a swim. She’s going to be three years old in September and this is her first voluntary swim. She’s now too tired beg at supper.

On the main road home, Gary spies two yearling moose. He thinks they are cows; no nubs of antlers were visible to him. He “screeches” to a stop and backs up so I can get pictures. ‘Shooting’ from a moving truck results in poor quality photos and I actually cut the head from one. With cropping, one shot isn’t bad. The clearest lacks, unfortunately, the moose’s head. Sigh. One more thing to cross off the second career list- wildlife photographer.

So May Long this year is different. No camping. No visiting with friends next door at the lake, no fishing, no campfires. However, it is beautiful weather, my garden is planted and soon the bedding plants will be in. I am pleasantly tired from the fresh air and the dogs are both sound asleep. Not so awful, just different.

Sheltering- A Reading List and Confession?

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The Stand- by Stephen King is not on the list. I am, for the most part, a King fan, and enjoy his writing. Like a well-done horror or suspense movie should, he safely scares you. But The Stand is a dystopian landscape after Captain Trip (a deadly flu) decimates the population. King throws in a little Good vs. Evil with Randall Flagg. He reminds readers that the book is not about covid 19, but it is about a pandemic. I am not going to recommend any dystopia right now.

I have read The Dutch House by Ann Prachett and Greg Iles’ Mississippi Blood, the last in his Natchez Burning trilogy. Now for the confession. There have been a number of mysteries in my list but they were an easy read and kept my mind off more serious things. There was non-fiction, too, but some of it depressing and that’s not what is needed right now. I have almost finished The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas which it very much a book I’d likely set aside, even though it won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2009. I will admit to starting some books and not finishing…I think it’s my state of mind.

Since covid, I have read a variety of books that I might have read but might not have if I’d had better access to titles I’d reserved at my public library. I finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and am now reading HP and the Deathly Hallows. My grandson read the series a year ago and I thought I should see why he so enjoyed them. Well, Harry leads an exciting life and the plot moves right along. Glad I decided to follow my grandson’s lead.

I caved and bought The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. It’s the last of her Tudor trilogy and takes concentration to read. There are so many characters, so many intrigues, and they deal with plague all the time. It’s not a major theme of the book, though, history and the character of Thomas Cromwell is. It’s fascinating how he, as a commoner, became one of the most powerful men in England and a trusted advisor to Henry V111. It’s also a total diversion from what is going on right now (at least for me). So even though in Alberta, we’re in phase one of opening up, reading is a way to keep safe and stay home.

Sheltering- The Stay Home Nazi

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I walked into the yard with my dogs yesterday and my husband arrived from his truck, hands in the air, saying, “I only drove by. I didn’t go into any stores.”

I admit to being adamant in my directions about avoiding other people. I follow my own rules and have cajoled and scared my husband into honouring them, too. Our groceries are delivered, one of us goes into a store, our drives into the country are into the boonies. So far into the boonies, that if the truck broke down, that’s where our bleached bones would be eventually found.

I can be mean.

Nazi or not, the isolation is wearing on everyone. A painting friend texted to run the idea of a final painting session (we haven’t met since before March 13th) by me. I had to say I didn’t think it was a good idea, even though she said no food would be served. It’s just not time yet. Community spread seems to be through gatherings; shopping turns out to be safer. In social settings, we forget ourselves, we are closer, and more animated. (We can thank covid 19 for making shopping for groceries and toilet paper exciting.) Still in Safeway or Save-on, it’s easier to physical distance. (If you want to.) Another friend is trying but turning into a rebel, breaking rules, and going into stores to buy almost necessities. It’s hard.

Being sick is hard, too. So is having someone in extended care, in the ICU, or on a ventilator. Young people who look to be in perfect health may have underlying conditions- diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis. The list could go on. Without being too preachy, hang in there. Better and I quote “to have a real visit” than to stop by to see a tombstone. Harsh words but true.

Another day of being the Stay Home Nazi. It’s kind of an unsung and unappreciated role. I will struggle on and try to be as strict with myself. Stay safe and stay home.

When Antibiotics Fail

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Modern medicine is losing its battle against bacteria. The original penicillin is ineffective. In hospitals and around the world superbugs have developed that are not touched by any of our antibiotics. When this happens, patients are left to fight off the invaders with only their own immune systems. Often, they succumb. The appearance of superbugs is a huge threat to our health and the days of popping an antibiotic and feeling better in a couple of days are numbered. How did we get to this point? Antibiotics are over-prescribed, patients demand them, and when they feel better, don’t finish the course. Any resistant bacteria are left to reproduce and pass along their resistance.

An old therapy which was abandoned when antibiotics proved so effective may provide a new weapon in our fight against bacteria. Bacteriophages, shown below, are viruses with a protein head and in the case of the ones shown, a “landing” tail which is specific to a species of bacteria and is used by the phage to inject its genetic material (DNA or RNA) into the cell. Once in the bacteria, its machinery is taken over and it produces more and more phages, until it bursts, is destroyed, and releases new phages. The new phages seek out more bacteria cells, inject, infect, and kill them. Cells of a human or animal are not harmed by the phages.

The purple “lunar landers” are phages on the surface of a bacterial cell.

It sounds wonderful. The best part is that phages are everywhere, the ocean, in sewage, soil; wherever bacteria are found, phages are, too. It’s not so wonderful when the actual problem of identifying a phage to attack a specific multi-drug resistant superbug, isolating it, and preparing it for human use is involved. Research is ongoing and this forgotten therapy may hold the key for the next advance against bacteria. Without a new treatment, infections will be our next health menace and millions of us may die. Before antibiotics, a simple infection was life threatening provides it.

I have included a short Youtube video that explains how bacteriophages kill bacteria. If you are interested further, ABC’s 2020 and CTV’s W5 have documentaries exploring the future of phage therapy. In the meantime, we should all limit our antibiotic use as much as we can.

After Midnight

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Sometimes when I can’t sleep, I get up, pour a small glass of milk and sit in the chair by the front room window. It gives me a fine view of the street, the flashing lights at the railway crossing and occasionally, a vehicle heading home. I like to imagine they’ve been somewhere having fun. On rare nights, I even see a pedestrian, head down, and hurrying home, away from the dark.

Last night, I went to bed as usual and as can happen, I tossed and turned for an hour before getting up. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that glass of wine, or the After Eight mints, or the butter tart and it’s likely the baked beans for supper weren’t the best choice. I got my milk and went to stare out at the night. Nothing stirred. People must have been tired from Christmas festivities or stresses. Not even a train showed up.

Then, the best surprise. The prairie hare, aka a jackrabbit, hopped across the street and onto the lawn. We’d seen his tracks earlier but here he was, in the flesh. It was too dark for me to attempt a picture, but he was startling white except for his ears and despite his earlier visits was skittish. I don’t think he could see me sitting, looking out at him, but several times he stared in my direction. He stopped under the ornamental plum tree we planted in memory of my mum. Perhaps some of the plums were a snack, although I didn’t see him eat and soon he moved over to sit in the shelter of an old mogul pine. He, too, sat and peered into the night. After a few minutes, he hopped across the snow and onto the street where he sat and sniffed the car tracks. Headlights from the avenue frightened him and he bounded away. The last I saw of him was his tail as he disappeared under trees across the street.

Insomnia, even mild insomnia, is an annoyance. No one enjoys tossing and turning as sleep evades them even when they’re tired. Last night, though, I almost enjoyed it. If I had been snoring snugly in my bed, I’d never have seen my visiting hare. Tonight- no wine and no snacks. Who knows what I’ll miss?

No stoves needed…

~ Linda ~ 1 Comment

A stock picture of a new condo in Toronto…there’s no stove. A matter of convenience? a matter of saving space? a matter of limited time? According to the Globe and Mail and other news sources, home cooking is on its way out.

Services like Skip the Dishes, Just Grub, and Uber Eats bring the food to your door. No need to spend time with all that annoying peeling, prepping, and don’t get started on the time spent in cooking. When the meal arrives, sit down and eat.

It sounds wonderful? No more shopping for ingredients. The practice of skipping buying ingredients for cooking (another time saver) is also touted as a way to cut waste…that asparagus you didn’t get around to using, that plate of leftover chili you forgot about, that wilted celery at the back of the fridge- all those kinds of things that would hit the landfill, won’t. Besides saving the environment, you’re saving money. Except that all the food brought in needs some sort of packaging. There’s the cost of the delivery, be it cab, included in the service, or by drone.

I’m old and funny and this just doesn’t sound like a good idea. I’m going to take it a step farther and draw a completely un-researched conclusion. Services like Skip the Dishes will contribute to our growing problem of obesity. Restaurant food is higher in fats, hidden sugar (because it’s cheap), and salt. Unless the portions are smaller than normal, more calories then needed are delivered. You won’t select your portion size, it’s done for you.

Home cooking does take some time but it’s healthier and with a bit of practice tastier. You have to re-train your taste buds to the subtlety of less sugar, less salt, and fat. Simple recipes and meals can be as satisfying as the latest trend in sauce-laden and fusion foods. Give it a try.

Googling kitchens without stoves results in a lot of pictures of the ranges you can buy. Some of them look like the deck of the Starship Enterprise. Perhaps no stove, no cooking, and ordering in is not a new way of life. I hope not but I am apprehensive. I understand the pressures of work, and limited time. Still there must be a better way.